In 2020, all California cities face an existential battle to save their livability, affordability and environment from state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, and his dozen or so hardcore followers in the legislature, who embrace Wiener’s failed theory that building dense luxury housing will “trickle down” to the rest of us. LivableCalifornia.org is a
By Dick Platkin in citywatchla.com PLATKIN ON PLANNING-No, your eyes aren’t lying. Los Angeles is experiencing a building boom, mostly high-rise luxury hotels and apartments in a few select neighborhoods. Some are already open, others are under construction, and the rest are either pulling permits or finalizing financing. Those claims that LA’s zoning is so
By Julia Carrie Wong : theguardian.com It was a beautiful winter day in San Francisco, and Zoe was grooving to the soundtrack of the roller-skating musical Xanadu as she rode an e-scooter to work. The 29-year-old tech worker had just passed the Uber building when, without warning, a homeless man jumped into the bike lane
By Tim Redmond, June 29, 2019, 48Hills.Org. Testimony looks at how ‘streamlining’ bill would cut the public out of crucial development discussions. Several members of the Planning Commission expressed concern this week about SB 330, a bill by Sen. Nancy Skinner that is supposed to speed up housing development– and one commissioner said the city
By John Mirisch : calmatters A new Wall Street “product.” Another investment hard-sell for global capital. A timeshare sales strategy. Behind all the talk of solving California’s housing challenges and providing more homes, at the end of the day that’s all Senate Bill 50, the “bold” plan by Sacramento politicians to eliminate single-family zoning, really
By Simon Perez KPIX-5 Video The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is thinking about ways to reduce the traffic and housing crunch in its Plan Bay Area 2050. One of the concepts the MTC is looking at is putting a cap on office space in cities that have more jobs than houses. The idea is to push
By Laura Paddison : huffpost.com The ‘Out of Reach’ report shows the housing crisis is hitting renters hard, especially those earning the minimum wage. Plenty of evidence shows how widespread and devastating America’s housing crisis is, but perhaps none quite as starkly as this: There’s not a single state, metropolitan area or county in the